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Astrologer's Notes:
Prediction Magic -
The Marriage of Transits
& Solar Arcs
by Basil Fearrington
One of the reasons why people consult with an astrologer is to gain insight that allows a more efficient, organized, practical approach to gauging the climate of the future. I would like to share a method of projecting ahead with you that has worked out well for me and many other astrologers. It involves the use of Solar Arc Progressions with transits and the Secondary Progressed Moon. The three techniques blend in together to create one very formidable, reliable system of looking ahead and backwards.


Transits

The term, "Transits" (tr.) refers to the actual movement of planets in real time. The planets are always moving. They are always "in transit." The predictive system of transits relates planets-on-the-move at their different rates of motion - where they are in moments of time, future and past - to aspect contact with the planetary positions in the birth chart. This is one of the ways that astrologers are able to gauge the overall climate of a person's life at any given point in that life.


A planet in transit brings its own intrinsic nature into new relationships within the natal horoscope. Transits represent energy and activity in the actual environment in actual time. Transiting Uranus, for example, is like a huge buzzing electric rod. It intensifies whatever it touches in the natal horoscope when it is in a transiting relationship. If, for example, the transit is to Venus, relationships, romance or sex are likely to become intensified in the life. There may be a sudden new beginning to a relationship, a sudden ending, an affair, etc. Through planetary rulerships, the Houses in the horoscope that Venus rules may also come into play.


In transit analysis, we primarily look at the transits of the outer planets to natal points because the outer planets (Saturn through Pluto) have a more emphatic manifestation than the inner planets. I never, ever look at a transit of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, or Venus. While I do observe the transits of Mars, the Mars transit don't make a big impression on me unless it couples with another measurement. My focus is always on the contacts that Jupiter through Pluto are making to the Sun, Moon, and Angles of the horoscope (1st, 4th, 7th, 10th Houses). The important, life-changing transits always, always, always involve the hard aspect (conjunction, square, opposition…never the sextile or trine) relationship between transiting Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, and/or Saturn to the natal Angles, Sun or Moon.


Solar Arc Progressions

In 1607, Johannes Kepler discovered laws for planetary motion that made the development of an ephemeris possible. This discovery gave astrologers a new method of equating degrees with years of life. In other words, 5 degrees were said to equal 5 years. This method of equating one year of life to each successive year of life was called Secondary Progressions.


Secondary Progressions have been the most popular system of progression but it is a flawed and limited system, as we will soon see.


The most important development to come from Secondary Progressions was the realization that the Earth's orbit around the Sun gave the Sun an apparent motion that completed exposure to the entire Zodiac in one year. The Earth's rotation upon its own axis each day gave complete exposure to the whole in one day. These two related motions lead finally to the equations of one year equals one degree; one degree equals one day; therefore one year equals one day (in the ephemeris).


Secondary Progressions are ephemeris-based. The idea is to count forward from the day after birth as age 1 until you arrive at the date (number of days) that represents the number of years in question. If a person is born on June 1 and they want to see progressed planets at age 20, you begin with June 2 as age 1, June 3 as age 2, etc., until you finally arrive at June 21. Then the computer computes a horoscope for that day just as if birth took place on that date at that time.


The problem with this system is that the planets from Jupiter through Pluto hardly move at all in a lifetime. But astrologers have tended to squeeze as much meaning into Secondary Progressions as could be because they did not know Solar Arcs. You simply cannot build the developments of life into the measurements involving combinations of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars because the aspects are very limited in number. In Solar Arc progressions, there are over 1000 possible aspects to work with.


I do use the Secondary Progressed Moon because it moves fast enough to be viable. The contacts with Saturn represent points in development every 7 years that are extremely important. These are times when an active, ambitious person will be planning strong career activity or absorbing great difficulty/challenge. It is such a strong aspect that we begin to monitor it 6 months before to 6 months after its exactness.


Solar Arcs

In Solar Arc progressions, we are taking the equation of one degree=one year and adding that to every position in the horoscope. In other words, if a person is 20 years old, we know the Sun will progress (arc) approximately 20 degrees. We then take that 20 degrees and add it to every planet, the Midheaven, Ascendant and Node to see what new aspect relationships are made (conjunction, semi-square, square, sesquiquadrate, and opposition, never the sextile or trine) to the natal horoscope. In advanced work we also look for arcs to midpoint positions. The Secondary Progressed Sun position and the Solar Arc Sun's position for any given year are the same.


There are other considerations about the Sun's speed and how it affects the arc after the age of 30 but allow your computer to take this into consideration. Briefly, the Sun moves more slowly between June and September. Be aware that if a person was born in July, the arc at age 60 will be a little more than 60 degrees because at 57-58 minutes per year, it is going to take longer to reach 60 than is so when the Sun is moving at a degree per year. As I said before, allow your computer to take care of it but understand what the computer is doing.


As an example, here is the horoscope of John F. Kennedy Jr., (Fig 1) with Solar Arc positions on the outer ring set for the month of his father's death. Kennedy was 3 years old. You can see Pluto 3 degrees above the Ascendant natally and exactly on the Ascendant in the outer ring. This means that Solar Arc Pluto would conjoin Kennedy's Ascendant at age 3. If Kennedy was still alive and came to me for a consultation, my preparation notes would include a big notation about the massive change potential that took place in his life (through his parents) at age 3. He, of course, would tell me that his father was killed and his entire life was changed at age 3. For starters, Solar Arcs are THAT simple.




Figure1



n my horoscope, 20 degrees Scorpio is on the Midheaven and Saturn is at 3 degrees Scorpio. This means that Solar Arc (abbreviated as SA) Saturn would conjoin my Midheaven at age 17. That is when I started my professional career in music (my other vocation).


Look at your horoscope at planets that are in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, or 12th Houses. Count the number of degrees between the planet and the next Angle. Transfer the degrees to years and see if anything happened in your life at that time of importance. You can do the same thing with planets in the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th Houses. Count the number of degrees between the Angle and the planet. It works the same way. Use the conjunction, opposition, or square.


For example, please see Bill Clinton's horoscope (Fig 2). Count the number of degrees between his Midheaven and Sun to arrive at 51 degrees (years). When added to his birth year of 1946, this would bring the arc to 1997. Yet, the computer calculates it as being exact in 1998. Why? Clinton was born in August when the Sun was moving slowly, less than a degree per day. By the time Clinton was 51 years old, there was an arc of 50 degrees, not 51.




Figure 2


Under normal circumstances, an arc of the Midheaven to the Sun is an indication of success, of full illumination of one's status in the world. And it was so in two ways. Clinton's popularity was soaring but then came all the scandal. Clinton was fully exposed for all to see.



Continue
Basil Fearrington,
 Astrologer
Basil Fearrington is the author of "The New Way To Learn Astrology." He has been a professional astrologer for 22 years.


Basil's articles have appeared in the leading astrological publications around the world. He was the Inaugural Chairman for the MilleyDome project in Johannesburg, South Africa and taught astrology there for one year.


Basil has twice been a faculty member of UAC and spoke at Astro 2000. In addition to his work in astrology, Basil is a professional musician who has toured with and/or recorded for artists such as Stevie Wonder and George Benson.


He was on a team of composers who did the music for a network show called "New York Undercover." The same team won a Grammy award in 1980.




bfearr@aol.com
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